NFL wants to limit overlap of Fox, NBC shows on Sunday

Two weeks before the NFL
regular season starts, the NFL and Fox are close to being on the same page when
it comes to the network’s postgame show, but some issues still appear
unresolved.

The Fox Sports crew is ready to go long.

The two sides were at odds
last year over Fox’s decision to run its postgame “OT” show on doubleheader
Sundays right up until 8 p.m. ET and lead into “The Simpsons.”

But after signing its new TV deal, the NFL grew concerned that
Fox’s postgame show could detract from NBC’s much-publicized Sunday night
pregame, “Football Night in America,” slated to run from 7 p.m. to the 8:15
p.m. kickoff of NBC’s new “Sunday Night Football.” With that in mind, the NFL
pushed Fox to limit the amount of time it devotes to “OT.”

So this season, when games
end before 7:30 p.m., the NFL says Fox has to wrap up its postgame coverage 10
minutes after the end of the last game. Fox can extend its postgame show to 8
p.m. for games that end after 7:30 p.m.

“There’s no reason for
networks to continue coverage of NFL games until 8 p.m. when they end at 7:20
p.m.,” said the NFL’s Brian McCarthy. “We’ll work closely with the networks to
monitor the situation.”

But Fox thinks it will be
able to run its postgame show until 8 p.m. when games end just before 7:30 p.m., if commercial obligations run beyond
7:30 p.m.

Fox spokesman Lou D’Ermilio
noted that last year the average doubleheader game on Fox ended at 7:36 p.m.,
which would allow Fox to extend its postgame show until 8 p.m.